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Community POTW #004

It's time for the fourth Pokémon of the Week and the conclusion of the non-randomised part of the Gen VI Pokémon of the week, We conclude with a Pokémon that everyone has

It's Blaziken, the Fire-type starter from Hoenn. Blaziken was originally ignored, but has come to be overly powerful thanks to its Hidden Ability. As such, feel free to post sets using that ability, regardless of if certain tier lists ban it.

Also, introducing a new aspect of the Pokémon of the Week: Mega Corner. Mega Corner is somewhat like pre-evolution corner, but far more in-depth. It's essentially a second article and will contain an overview, sets and counters for the Mega Evolution, as they have significantly higher stats and usually different abilities and sometimes types.
This week, obviously, we're starting with Mega Blaziken

Never made a post on POTW before, but Blaziken really interests me. I definitely see him more as an offensive support more than something to rely on. There's so many Pokemon with better Mega Evolutions than Blaziken, like Kangaskhan for example. BUT, Blaziken I think can play a great mega support role. Give an incoming mega, particularly an attacking mega, a platform to build off.

Standard Baton Passing action. Protect to get a free speed boost. Baton Pass to pass on stat boosts. Sky Uppercut, Flare Blitz or Blaze Kick for an attack if you're stuck against Taunt or as a last Pokemon, with the STAB bonus. Then it's a pick your poison with the last slot in terms of what stat you'd like increased. Substitute (with Starf Berry) if you want to go with Speed over time, with a late attack boost coupled with the Starf berry. Bulk Up to transfer some attack and defence, Work Up for attack and Special Attack. Swords Dance for a double attack, or Hone Claws for Attack and Accuracy. It'll probably only take one hit though, so the protect/substitute is the way I'm going at the moment, and passing that on to a Mega Kangashan for me is working very strongly. It would probably work well with any of the attack focused megas. EV spread is very negotiable, but obviously with the thought in mind that it can take some form of a hit. It can be frail, so I do recommend the HP/Def combo.

Powerful physical sweeper. Can use HC + inaccurate moves or SD + Powerful move that might miss at unfortunate times and in case of FBlitz, shorten its life span. Can take out 2 or 3 pokes a battle though. Maybe, if set up on the right pokes, it can use less speed EV and more HP EV.

Goodbye Serebiiforums, I will not visit you anymore. I want to be free~

This Set is meant to be useful for both forms. Hone Claws helps it not only increase it Atk stat but also provide Accuracy increase which helps HJK. Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick is a Stab and can be used depending on what one wants (Power/Recoil Vs. Stablility/Critical).
The last move would be dependent on the users choice as to what he wants to counter.Quick Attack for finishing the weaker ones, Shadow Claw for the Ghost/Psychic types, Dual Chop has good power and can break Subs. Thunder Punch for Water and Flying types (like Tornadus) and Poison Jab for the new Fairy types.

Blaziken, another fire starter that has been widely popularized by other media, not to mention the first starter to be banned to ubers.

Typing: Despite my gripes about Fire-Fighting starters being overdone, Fire-Fighting does have some strong points. 6 resistances in exchange for 4 weaknesses is a good tradeoff, even if the weaknesses (Water, Ground) are somewhat more common than the resistances (Bug and Steel). The biggest benefit comes from the fact that the Fighting subtype removes Fires normal Stealth rock weakness. That is a big benefit for pretty much anything, though Blaziken is exposed to entry hazards otherwise.
In the STABs department Fire-Fighting shine, guaranteed to get a super-effective strike on Steel types and provides decent Super Effective coverage otherwise, though due to the large amount of resistances to Fighting, there are numerous dual-types resisting the STAB combination.

Stats: Normal Blaziken is notable for having incredibly potent Attacking stats; Base 120 ATK and Base 110 SATK is incredible for a non-legendary pokemon and can make Blaziken a potent wall breaker with the right moveset. Unfortunately, opposed to other mixed offense starters like Infernape and Greninja, Blaziken is fairly slow, clocking in at a paltry Base 80 speed. This is combined with slightly below average (70) defenses means that Blaziken dies before it can kill, whether in trick room or out of it, though its hidden ability patches this flaw up nicely.
Mega Blaziken… wow. Mega Blaziken wrecks stuff. Base 160 ATK is King Kong level attack and Base 130 SATK leaves most foes charred husks before boosting. Base 100 speed is a sweet zone that many Sweepers thrive at and is only made better by its ability. Finally, all of its defenses are bumped up to base 80, giving it a degree of survivability it didn’t have before.

Moveset: While that typing means good news, what about the pugilistic phoenix’s moves? Blaziken’s physical attacking movepool does not disappoint, aside from the Fire and Fighting stabs (including the potent Hi Jump Kick and Flare Blitz), moves like Swords Dance (!), Brave Bird (!), Stone Edge, Earthquake, and the situational Thunder Punch and Night Slash, Blaziken has few things that can outright wall it physically. On the special side of things, the situation is far more grim; Fire moves, Solarbeam and Focus Blast consist of Blaziken’s entire usable special movepool. While Blaziken has a few support moves, you are wasting your time if you are not attacking or buffing, so only Substitute really deserves mention.

Ability: Starter with broken ability? Check. Speed Boost is one of the best abilities in the game, outside of a trick room environment. Speed Boost patches and increases Blaziken’s speeds to levels that even Choice Scarf pokemon can’t touch once the kangaroo bird gets going and is the sole reason for Blaziken’s banning to ubers in 5th gen.
Oh yeah… there is also this ability called Blaze… which is only a candle in comparison Speed boost.

The Verdict: Incoming! Blaziken’s fists of fire leave its foes broken and its ability makes it near untouchable. Mega-Blaziken has even fewer weaknesses than its counterpart. The reason that fists of fire never really caught on is that they burn the user too. Blaziken lives on borrowed time and once it is up it self-destructs. Just be careful not to lose your team in the process.

I was once routed by a Gengar who critted 4 times in a row on my team. Morale of the story; Crits happen and Sucker Punch is good Gengar repellent.

This set is so, so damn hard to counter. I used to roll it out as a backup for my gen 5 Uber sun team, but it always feels a bit cheaty. Hence the OU ban, which has just been confirmed for Gen 6 too.

Anyhoo, the point of this set is to set up Blaziken's Obnoxious speed. Either lead, or bring it in after a KO. You have a couple of options based on your opponent: if you're likely to force a switch, then throw up Swords Dance, and proceed to sweep with the additional Speed Boost gain. If you're faced with something that's had a speed buff, use protect to earn your first Speed Boost and begin to sweep.
Flare Blitz and High Jump Kick provide really high damage STAB moves coming off a decent base attack which, when coupled with a 2x SD boost, can devastate a lot of opponents.

Item

There are a couple of options here: Leftovers provides an opportunity to heal off some Flare Blitz recoil damage, and protect allows you to earn an extra free bit of health. For extra damage, Life Orb is always a good shout, but the 10% recoil can seriously stack with Flare Blitz. If you want Blaziken to go the distance, then the power boost from Swords Dance is preferable.

Partners and Counters

Sun was a fantastic aid to Blaziken in Gen 5, boosting Flare Blitz's already considerable power to impressive levels. The weather nerf limits its usefulness, but doesn't completely remove it, so Groudon support is something that can benefit Blaziken still.
A spinner/defogger is also a must to get the most out of this fairly fragile poke. Taking neutral damage from Stealth Rock, being susceptible to Spikes and Toxic spikes and lacking a solid method of recovery, means a hazard happy team can severely reduce Blaziken's opportunities to sweep.

Speed Boost makes counters such a difficult prospect, as the big chicken can hide behind protect until it can outspeed anything capable of landing a big hit on it. Priority moves, such as Arceus' Extreme Speed, can override this advantage, but requires support from hazards to guarantee the instant KO needed to prevent a sweep. Predictive switching with Ghost types can help draw out a suicidal HJK, but is by no means a fool-proof plan since a sun and SD boosted Flare Blitz will still do huge damage to Giratina, and Blaziken's superior speed will give it a fairly easy follow-up hit.

Ain't no stalling with this set. HJK for pure damage with recoil chance or Sky Uppercut in case potential recoil isn't your cup of tea, Hone claws for a boost to the accuracy that'll help HJK, or swords dance for even more power. Shadow Claw or night Slash, whichever you would rather use to take out those pesky psychic types. Flare Blitz for Fire-type damage, Brave Bird for fighting type pokemon.

Well, well, well...my Number 1 for coolest-looking Fire-Type Starter (final stage) got a Mega overhaul this time around. Blaziken itself was also in my top 5 Fire Types prior to Gen VI, so let's get to it...

Stats (Normal/Mega):
-HP - Above Average/Above Average - Not much to write home about for HP, but it's workable.
-Attack - Godly/Incredible - This is the first instance of "WOW!!!" for me. Both Blaziken get a huge Attack Stat.
-Defense - Below Average/Average - This is the first instance of "Ugh..." for me. Workable HP with barely-workable defenses is not lasting long.
-Sp.Atk - Great/Above Godly - Second instance of "WOW!!!" here. Not as good as Attack, but very usable.
-Sp.Def - Below Average/Average - Second instance of "Ugh..." here. Pretty much deja vu...
-Speed - Average (Non-Trick Room)/Great (Non-Trick Room) - Base 80 is barely workable for the Regular Blaziken, but Base 100 with the Mega is far superior, especially with Speed Boost.

Abilities:
-Blaze (Default) - It's a Starter Pokémon. You expected more from the Default Ability?
-Speed Boost (Friend Safari/Default) - The only thing to consider for competitive Battles...or in general...

Blaziken's Movepool is rather deep and broad. Most Normal Types can't say as much for themselves. The only drawback I can see with Blaziken (apart from defensive capabilities) is having to trade an Item you'd prefer for Blazikenite if you want to go Mega, but it's not a huge tradeoff. Thunderpunch, Brave Bird, Stone Edge, Poison Jab and many others round out the offense nicely, Speed Boost increases sweeping potential, and Fighting Type makes you neutral to Stealth Rock. Overall, a solid-offense Pokémon I'd highly recommend.

Honestly I hate Blaziken, at least back in Gen. 5. Between Life Orb recoil, Flare Blitz Recoil, and sometimes High Jump Kick missing at the worst possible time, he always dies before I actually get to sweep anything. But when the opponent uses it, they sweep my entire team... Am I doing something wrong here?

Blaziken has a sweet design but is super cheap and almost unstoppable once it starts rolling with that speed boost and mega evolution, and then Hi Jump Kick coming straight to your face. Cool pokemon but god forbid you fight one in random matchup where it isn't banned.

Some kinds imported straight from Hoenn. Blaziken is probably best used after one of your pokemon is fainted, as Blaziken is pretty frail, especially in Ubers. Life Orb would be generally a great item for this set, since in Ubers you might rather run Mewtwo or even Gengar for your mega. If that isn't your plan then Blazikenite is preferred as you won't be getting life orb recoil. Anyway use Swords Dance if you predict them to switch, or otherwise use protect to get the Speed Boost running so you hopefully outspeed whoever is in your path. If you're feeling especially douchebaggy you can go for another protect, lol. Hi Jump Kick does ridiculous damage, especially with swords dance. Flare Blitz is your preferred second STAB, although blaze kick is a much less powerful(and actually accurate) option if the recoil turns you away.

Thanks to Mega Blaziken always having Speed Boost and the new XY breeding mechanics, Baton Pass and Reversal are now legal with Speed Boost. The idea here is pretty simple, Substitute to get a bunch of speed boosts and try to swords dance if you find the chance. Once you have enough boosts pass them on to your preferred sweeper of choice. Your attacking move depends on your preference, HJK deals massive damage but ruins the whole set if it misses. Flare Blitz is a strong alternative but has an unattractive recoil. Reversal can be a gimmicky choice but deals a lot of damage paired with Substitute, Speed Boost and potentially swords.

Other Options
- Night Slash is now legal with Speed Boost and can be nice to deal with Psychics and Ghosts, especially in Ubers where there are plenty.
- Shadow Claw has similar uses to Night Slash.
- Special variants could be interesting with moves like Fire Blast to catch people off guard.
- A full on reversal set taking advantage of Speed Boost, substitute and Flare Blitz's recoil could be possible but is kinda gimmicky.

Checks and counters
Most bulky waters, especially Tentacruel, wall Blaziken fairly easily. Blaziken however cannot be burned in Gen 6 making will o wispers like Jellicent much harder to stop the stupid chicken, especially in Jellicents case if it packs Night Slash or Shadow Claw. Giratina and Lugia also put a stop to its onslaught and don't take too much damage from shadow claw/night slash. Taunt also shuts down the Baton Pass set.

Checks and Counters(Mega)
Mega Blaziken is even more unstoppable, old foes that could outspeed it's base 80 speed now have to worry about base 100 speed with potential speed boosts. Megaken also won't be suffering Life Orb damage, making it slightly more durable as well. After it gets a swords dance up its almost unstoppable. Giratina is still a decent answer, but again has to be careful of Night Slash. Lugia now has to fear Flare Blitz much more as well as Night Slash, and cannot stall out Life Orb recoil anymore.

Remember when we realized that Blaziken was Uber already, and then it was getting a mega evolution that also got speed boost? Yeah. Well, broken or not, it's still a threat in Ubers, although I feel it's not very useful in competitive battling due to it being banned to the ubers tier, where you have extremespeed Arceus and Kyogre flying around.

Overview: Before Speed Boost, it was a decent fire fighting type that had some options as a speedy mixed attacker, and it wasn't bad. Just not anything notable. However, WITH speed boost, it quickly became very dangerous after being out on the field for more than one turn, and could outspeed just about everything in the game (even scarfed pokemon) pretty reliably. Combine this speed with great offensive moves like Hi Jump Kick and Flare Blitz and you have a serious threat on your hands.

What you've seen in the other sets you will probably see here. Oh well. Life orb is not my favorite choice with recoil moves such as flare blitz or brave bird, but it's really the only option. Blaziken has to try to get OHKOs while outspeeding everything due to it's frailness, or else it isn't good in ubers.
Start of with Protect to get yourself a 1.5 speed boost on the next turn. It might not sound like much, but it makes a huge difference in ubers where most pokemon aren't that fast. From there, really you just spam Hi Jump Kick or Flare Blitz until something misses and you die. Overheat is an option if you want to surprise them with a strong special attack without much repercussion. Overheat also avoids that nasty Flare Blitz recoil that I was talking about earlier.
The last slot is kind of up in the air: Hone Claws for those situations you can't be OHKOed: it might work against a Deoxys-Speed lead, but 80% of the time elsewhere it's going to get you killed. It also helps with Hi Jump Kick's Imperfect Accuracy and will make you hit more often. I prefer Baton Pass due to it giving Blaziken a support option and a speed boost in Ubers is always a very good thing to have. Brave Bird is for coverage.. I guess.. but it comes with that recoil, so be careful with it.

Kentucky Fried Mega Chicken
Blaziken @ Blazikenite
Abiltiy: Speed Boost
Nature: Adamant
252 Atk/ 252 Spd /4 HP
- Hi Jump Kick
- Flare Blitz/ Blaze Kick
- Protect
- Hone Claws
Mega Blaziken sounds crazy good on paper, but considering the fact that you have to give up a life orb only gives it more speed and less Special attack. At least you don't have to worry about that 10% recoil! Sort of the same setup as the one before, but this one forgoes the mixed attacking set for pure Attack.
Hi Jump Kick kicks stuff in the face for huge damage (but if it misses, you're as good as dead), and Flare Blitz does comparable damage but comes with recoil. Blaze kick is an option if you don't want that bothersome recoil, and Blaziken's monstrous attack coming off of Hone claws means you still will be pounding stuff. Protect gives it some extra speed to outspeed pretty much everything that isn't scarfed, and Hone claws helps with Hi Jump Kick's missing problem and also gives some extra attack.

Other Options: I've seen a substitute set floating around, but with Flare Blitz and Life orb penalties it's a short lived one. Blaziken also gets Duel Chop, Earthquake, Focus Punch, Dynamic Punch, Vacuum wave, Night Slash and Stone edge-Actually, Blaziken has a very versatile move set making it somewhat unpredictable. A special set is feasible too, it's just that 160 Attack kind of overshadows it.

Overall, Blaziken is a situational threat that can be extremely dangerous, or not that big of a deal. Good partners could be Groudon for the sun boost and Deoxys to lay some Spikes to help with killing in one turn. Consider it, especially in a sun team, but don't expect it to kick *** every time it comes out.

...Well, if you think I'm gonna type my name in some rediculous swirly cursive font, well, that's not happening. At least for now.

Blaziken is beyond over powered. Mega Evolution just rubs in that fact.

Both Blaziken and Mega Blaziken play pretty much exactly the same way and run the exact same set. The only difference is the held item (obviously).
So, I will look into how it can be beaten.

Flash Fire Chandelure is probably your best option, boasting immunity to both of Blaziken's STAB moves. Slowbro is also pretty good, resisting Blaziken's STAB and boasting high defense. Blaziken does not like facing Trick Room, if you can get that working, you're going the right direction.
There are two reliable revenge killers: Talonflame and Azumarill. Talonflame's Gale Wings ability will allow it to give Brave Bird the jump on the fire chicken and OHKO it while resisting Blaziken's STAB (but with less then spectacular bulk). The latter will need to deliver an Aqua Jet, especially if Blaziken has a Swords Dance in its feathers.

Guess who Smogon just banned? Even if the POTW is decided to be kept OU, Ubers at least needs to be discussed.

Giratana, as it has always before, stops it, but is arguably the best now that Dragon Tail keeps it from Baton Passing to something else. Extreme Speed Arceus too. But those are kind of obvious I guess.

It's amazing what something so simple as a new Ability can do for a Pokémon. Before Generation V, nobody would have given Blaziken much in the way of attention- its average Speed meant it was seemingly doomed to forever live in Infernape's shadow. Seemingly. Once it got Speed Boost, then things started looking up for our Fire/Fighting fiendish fowl, perhaps too much so. Anyway, this remains your best bet for Blaziken- Protect is great for a free Speed Boost, though Swords Dance is an option if you think you can get it in. Flare Blitz and High Jump Kick are your STAB moves of choice, both of them immensely powerful. As for the final slot, you're gonna want to save that for coverage purposes. And my coverage move of choice? Shadow Claw. It and High Jump Kick alone offer totally unresisted coverage, meaning that you can't wall this with resistances alone.

Item is up to you, though either one serves basically the same purpose- boost that Attack power. Ability is absolutely crucial to Blaziken's sweeping capabilities, as without it, it wouldn't have the speed to wipe out entire teams.

As anyone who has ever used or faced a Ninjask can tell you, Baton Pass and Speed Boost is a very desirable combination. The premise is simple- Beef up Blaziken's stats with the move of your choice, Protect for more Speed increases, and pass away. Last slot is up to you- Blaze Kick means Blaziken won't be total Taunt bait, whereas Substitute is another good move to pass, albeit not as good as it used to be, given how Infiltrator and sound-based moves now bypass Substitutes. Still worth consideration, though.

Item helps recover any lost HP. Ability, again, is crucial, as it's those Speed increases you'll be primarily passing on to teammates.

Other options:
*Hone Claws is a beautiful option on the sweeper set, especially when you consider the consequences of High Jump Kick missing.
*With a base Special Attack of 130, Mega Blaziken can attempt a special attacking set. Unfortunately, Flamethrower and Focus Blast is pretty much the extent of its special attacking capabilities. Hidden Power wouldn't be a bad idea, were it not for the power nerf.
*Stone Edge and Earthquake are both viable options, and together have great coverage. Thing is, they still don't get the perfect unresisted coverage of High Jump Kick and Shadow Claw, and Blaziken even gets STAB on one of those!

Abilities:
*Blaze: When Blaziken's HP goes below 1/3 of its maximum, its Fire moves gain a x1.5 boost in power. Not a bad Ability in and of itself, but it's hardly Blaziken's best option.
*Speed Boost: Blaziken's Hidden Ability. After every turn, Blaziken's Speed increases by one stage. This is it, ladies and gentlemen, this is Blaziken's one-way ticket to stardom. Every Blaziken you use for competitive battles should have Speed Boost.

Partners:
Blaziken doesn't need very much in the way of partners- it can crush entire teams like empty soda cans if it's able to set up, which it usually has little issue with. That said, any physical sweeper will love Blaziken passing some Attack and Speed boosts its way.

Counters:
Correctly predicting a High Jump Kick and switching a Ghost-type into it, there's half your work done right there. Do it with a Gengar, and you can Mega Evolve it to handle the inevitable Shadow Claw and take out the rest of its HP with a nice STAB Sludge Bomb. Slurpuff also resists High Jump Kick, and after a Calm Mind or two, Blaziken is powerless to stop its Surf. A physical-oriented Greninja can also come in on a resisted Flare Blitz or Shadow Claw (look out for High Jump Kick, though!) and take it out with Water Shuriken. In fact, priority moves in general are a good way to go about countering Blaziken. One of the best ways, though- Azumarill. It resists both of Blaziken's STABs, and takes it out with a Huge Power-boosted STAB Aqua Jet.

Opinion:
Overpowered, overrated... And yet, still one cool chicken. In the real world, you fry chicken. In the Pokémon world, the chicken fries you.

Shadow claw covers almost everything your STAB moves don't, and HJK plows through everything after one Hone Claws. Another benefit to this set is that Blaze Kick and Shadow Claw both have higher crit ratios, turning the luck factor to your side, as you no longer have to worry about misses but get the added benefit of criticals.

Personally, I run this as a mega set. No, Blaziken does not have the best Mega Evolution. However, while not that significant an increase, the additional 10 points in each defense help him to barely survive one hit that would usually kill it. I've found he lives through most non-STAB (and some STAB) SE attacks, albeit barely, as Mega Blaziken. This is very beneficial to setting up Hone Claws and increasing speed.

Winds, stay with me!

Have: Several Adamant Larvitar with 5 maxed IVs, any whatever order you would like. Currently out if D-Dance Larvitar, however will breed one for right offer.

Adamant Speed Boost Torchic: 31/31/31/x/31/31

More Torchic and Larvitar than you can count with anywhere from 1-4 maxed IVs, all of the Torchic have Max Attack for sure. Most of both of these have adamant natures.

This is my personal favorite Blaziken set. Blaziken comes right out of the gate with massive attack thanks to Life Orb, and one Protect moves its Speed into phenomenal levels. Swords Dance is there for even more power, allowing you to tear through pretty much everything if you can get it set up. Stone Edge gives some more recovery. I prefer using Blaze Kick over Flare Blitz because an opponent can send out a Pokemon to get killed by Flare Blitz and then revenge kill Blaziken with a priority move thanks to all the recoil it took, but Flare Blitz offers a massive amount of damage, especially under sun.

This set is very similar to the Life Orb Blaziken, but with one difference: Swords Dance isn't optional. Because Mega Blaziken has high enough speed, a protect to get a boost is somewhat unnecessary. Swords Dance, however, is not. Blaziken with a Life Orb packs more punch without a Swords Dance than Mega Blaziken does without a Swords Dance, so starting off Mega Blaziken is weaker and will need an opportunity to set up. However, thanks to its great speed starting off, it can still hit hard and fast without that Swords Dance, so if you don't get the opportunity to set up, you can still put wholes in the enemy team. Blaze Kick and Flare Blitz offer the same dilemma as ever, just pick whichever one you want.

Partners for Blaziken would be anything to take Toxic Spikes off the field. The other entry hazards aren't as big of a deal, especially since they don't see as much usage this Gen, but Toxic Spikes will cut your sweep tragically short. Tentacruel, Scolipede, Forretress, Mandibuzz, anything with a Poison typing or Rapid Spin/Defog support is very much wanted. Blaziken would also love to have Mega Charizard Y or Ninetails as a support for Sun, so its Fire-moves do even more damage. Finally, Blaziken is incredibly vulnerable to Priority moves, especially when it's got a Life Orb on it. A Pokemon that can tank such hits, like Rotom-W or Trevenant, would benefit Blaziken quite a bit.

Countering Blaziken is hard but it can be done. Rotom-W resists Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick, and, depending on your investments in Defense, can take a good hit from Hi Jump Kick or Stone Edge. It can then respond with Hydro Pump. Dusclops also works well against Blaziken. If you think Blaziken is going to use Hi Jump Kick, sound out Dusclops and watch Blaziken eat dirt. Sableye can also work with priority Swagger and an immunity to Fighting. If you're lucky Blaziken will kill itself from Confusion. Aegislash can also counter Blaziken, thanks to it's King's Shield. Ferrothorn with Rocky Helmet can be a suicide sacrifice to deal enough damage to Blaziken to make it faint with it, and Talonflame and Mega Pinsir both have priority Flying moves to make Blaziken rue the day it stepped out of Professor Birch's laboratory.

Mega Blaziken. Mega Mewtwo could be the uber's uber, but this guy does amazing too. One thing you must remember is that you only have a base 100 speed, AFTER mega evolving. In other words, acreus, mewtwo, landourus, and luiga outspeed it before one speed boost turn. Also, after one turn, deoxeys speed outspeeds, so theres a forewarning.

I throw sticks.
-Protect
-Baton Pass
-Swords Dance
-HJK/Sub?
Scare a foe into switching, and mega evolve to baton pass success! Pass this to a bulky poke, or make sure to have a blaze blaziken anyway, (disregard if using sub) This set may be the only way to take advantage of baton passing with blaziken, as the 10 boost in defensive stats is so trollish sometimes.
Also, the mega is used to scare people. Using normal blaziken, this set is easier to scout and predict.

Haduken
-Flamethrower
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power Ghost/Grass/Ice
-Substitute
WHAAAT!?!?! special? yes. and its purely for trolls. I just kinda stiched this together, so...... have fun.

Last edited by ajgrocks100; 18th November 2013 at 1:05 AM.
Reason: Needed Bolding, special set

Could someone with a bit more battle knowledge than myself put shadow claw in here somewhere? Can be helpful allowing Blaziken to hit Psychic types, after a swords dance or 2 it can hit Slowbro quite hard.

Mega-Blaziken is just a buffed up version of Blaziken really. So they pretty much share the same counters.

Giratina is a pretty huge one. Taking no damage from HJK and resisted from Flare Blitz, it's a really good Blaziken counter. Shadow Claw 2HKOs Giratina at +2, giving it a turn to phase it out. Giratina-O does roughly the same thing, except taking more damage at the expense of doing more. Azumarill can take a +2 HJK after SR as prior damage, but it'll be pretty much dead afterwards. It can retaliate with a Aqua Jet which OHKOs 0/0 Blaziken using LO. Talonflame is great for revenging, since Gale Wings Brave Bird just cuts through Blaziken. Revenge killer Arceus can take out a M-Blaziken with E-Speed after SR, though be weary of HJK switching in. Bulky Psychics can take a hit and phase/hitback, but +2 Flare Blitz REALLY hurts. Toxic Spikes is helpful in bringing down Blaziken wiht recoil.

Protect is so that you can get that one stage of a speed boost, then be able to git almost anything hard.
Flare Blitz with STAB is powerful, but of course that recoil is not that great, however it is significantly superior in power to Fire Punch, or Blaze kick
Hi Jump Kick is also wicked powerful, but that 90 accuracy will always come back to bite you at the worst possible time. Again, significantly powerful when compared to Brick Break
The last slot is up to you:
Swords Dance is to set up on opponents, however you lack of another move means lack of coverage from this powerful chicken, meaning a Salamence or Chandelure or Slowbro could counter you easily.
Stone Edge is for that coverage, but whether it helps you or not depends on the situation, similar situation to Shadow Claw

Protect is obvious, so you can get at least one Speed Boost
Swords Dance is to greatly raise attack, whereas Hone Claws only gives one stage of attack but one stage of accuracy as well, in case the Pokémon getting these boosts using something iffy like Stone Edge
Baton Pass is for, well this is a baton passing set, so give up those boosts to the opponent
The final slot is your choice, to prevent yourself from becoming Taunt bait.
Jolly is to make sure you are faster, whereas Focus Sash is so you can live at least one hit (unless facing a Skill Linker) and baton pass afterwards

Moves you SHOULD NOT use.
- Brave Bird: No, just no, it is not worth it. Flying only takes on Grass and Bug, which Fire type moves like Flare Blitz can only cover. Sure it can hit Fighting types, and if you really want to OHKO some bulky fighting type, send out a Talonflame instead because Brave Bird Blaziken is not worth it.
- Blast Burn: We are not going through this again
- Dual Chop: I saw someone with this moves, just so you know, these moves are not available yet. But even so, are we allowed to incorporate unavailable moves? Because these entries will eventually carry over into January and people will be wondering if moves like Superpower are worth it.

I need people for Friend Safari
2DS friend code (Pokemon Y): 5000-2976-5362
Send a private message my way if you add me.

Just because Blaziken is in Smogon's Ubers tier, doesn't mean we can't focus on a WiFi standard set. Besides, a set for Blaziken is the same for WiFi battles as it is for Smogon's tiers.

This is true, but keep in mind that Serebii uses Smogon tiers by default. When the POTW is written up, it'll most likely be written primarily with Smogon tiers in mind (although Blue Harvest might still put on a set for Wi-Fi play).

As for Blaziken, there's one move that was brought to my attention just before the official ban announcement on Smogon, and that move it Knock Off. In case you were unaware, Knock Off has been boosted to 65 BP and while the opponent has an item, it does 1.5x its usual damage before knocking off the opponent's item and reverting to its original power. This essentially means that Blaziken has a 97 BP Dark-type coverage move that does a little extra harm by removing items, which is a pretty big deal. Although it won't officially be available until Pokebank opens, once that day comes (or if you are playing the Pokebank ladders on PO or PS!), you should always run Knock Off > Shadow Claw. Knock Off is significantly more powerful than Shadow Claw on that first hit, and even after that it only has 5 less BP. Just to put the power of Knock Off into perpective, here's Blaziken against a Pokemon that was regarded as one of the best counters to Blaziken in existance:

So yeah, one of the most solid answers to Blaziken in the game gets OHKO'd most of the time with no prior damage. Since Blaziken is banned now on both PS! and PO, you probably won't see many Slowbros. That said, here's Knock Off against arguably the number one Blaziken counter in the game:

It's true that Blaziken needs a good bit of hazard support to have a shot at OHKOing Giratina, but that's only to be expected when you're talking about one of the most physically bulky Pokemon in the game (if not the most physically bulky, besides Avalugg or something). Seeing as how Blaziken could never guarantee a 2HKO on that same Giratina without hazards before (even Shadow Claw only 2HKO'd ~96% of the time), that's really good. If Giratina isn't physically defensive, it's in danger of a OHKO without any need for hazard support. Even physically defensive Giratina-O can be OHKO'd 56.25% of the time with nothing more than Stealth Rock support. The best part is that even if the attack doesn't net the KO, Giratina loses its Leftovers (although Giratina-O cannot lose its Griseous Orb to Knock Off). Overall, Knock Off is a really underrated option that's probably the single best coverage move a Blaziken can run.

As for Blaziken, there's one move that was brought to my attention just before the official ban announcement on Smogon, and that move it Knock Off. In case you were unaware, Knock Off has been boosted to 65 BP and while the opponent has an item, it does 1.5x its usual damage before knocking off the opponent's item and reverting to its original power. This essentially means that Blaziken has a 97 BP Dark-type coverage move that does a little extra harm by removing items, which is a pretty big deal. Although it won't officially be available until Pokebank opens, once that day comes (or if you are playing the Pokebank ladders on PO or PS!), you should always run Knock Off > Shadow Claw. Knock Off is significantly more powerful than Shadow Claw on that first hit, and even after that it only has 5 less BP. Just to put the power of Knock Off into perpective, here's Blaziken against a Pokemon that was regarded as one of the best counters to Blaziken in existance:

Oh wow, I wasn't aware Knock Off got a boost from a Pokemon with an item. That would explain why my Mandibuzz always hits so hard! I'd consider running that over Stone Edge, then, since Stone Edge deals with Gyarados and Volcarona, but Knock Off hits both of them for Neutral damage and Mega Gyarados is hit by Hi Jump Kick.

I don't ever play in Ubers, just WiFi and OU, so I'm not aware of what Blaziken can do in Ubers, but it looks like it's pretty fearsome even there.

There's a chance he may not stay in Ubers anymore though, as while High Jump Kick and Flare Blitz remain impressive moves, Blaziken's efficiency in that tier needed the sun. As Drought now has a limit on how long it can last, this seriously puts an issue on how much Blaziken can now sweep. As Blaziken will be spending 1 to 2 turns setting up, that will only give it 3 more turns of Drought boost. It can be argued that it can be brought up to 6 if Groudon is wearing Heat Rock, but giving such an item to someone like Groudon seems like a waste. In any case, Bulky Pokémon in Ubers can now out wait Blaziken to remove his sun, Giratina being the foremost in that department.

Anyone saying Red is a good trainer please explain to me how he can have a Jolteon get OHKO'ed by a Thunderbolt. From a Rhyhorn.

Proud owner of an English Unnerve Mewtwo.

I'm currently in Sinnoh and Johto-Kanto at the moment. If you want to do a trade, notify me when as I won't be online in Kalos (Gen VI).